Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026
The Flexible Rhino-Laryngoscope for Awake Nasotracheal Intubation
Published on: August 2, 2024
Laryngoscope plastic blades in scheduled general anesthesia patients: a comparative randomized study
Michel Galinski1, Jean Catineau, Fatima Rayeh
1Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation-SAMU93-EA 3409, Hôpital Avicenne, 93009 Bobigny, France. michel.galinski@avc.aphp.fr
Study Objective:
To compare two brands of disposable plastic laryngoscope blades, Vital View plastic blades and Heine XP plastic blades, with the reusable Heine Classic+ Macintosh metal blades.
Design:
Prospective randomized, controlled, single-blinded study.
Setting:
Operating room of a university-affiliated hospital.
Patients:
519 patients without criteria for predicted difficult intubation, undergoing scheduled surgery during general anesthesia.
Interventions:
Patients were randomized to three groups according to laryngoscope blade brand.
Measurements:
Difficult tracheal intubation was evaluated by the Intubation Difficulty Scale (IDS) (IDS > 5 = procedure involving moderate to major difficulty).
Main Results:
The percentage of intubations with an IDS > 5 was 3.1% in Group M (metal blade group), 5.1% in Group V (Vital View plastic blade group), and 10.0% in Group H (Heine plastic blade group). A significant difference was noted between Groups M and H (P = 0.02) but not between Groups M and V.
Conclusions:
Intubation may be more challenging when using Heine XP plastic blades but no significant difference exists between Vital-View plastic blades and Heine Classic+ metal blades.
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